Mizar the Dreambender
by ToothPasteCanyon
Summary: Transcendence AU where Mabel became a demon.
1. Chapter 1

Those warm days of summer past

When the wind breezed through the trees

And tousled our hair

The time we spent together, brother

Together under the sun

Together under the stars

Forever like this, we mortals thought

But now those warm days are gone

The wind still whistles and the light still shines

On mortals

But no longer do I feel them, brother

Empty under the sun

Empty under the stars

Forever like this, I now know

I will hold onto those warm summer memories,

I will hold onto them.

* * *

A flash of demon yellow and Mabel screamed, falling onto her knees. Her vision blurred and flicked between grey and colour, and her body burned with a fierce blue flame, incinerating her hair, her shoes, her sweater.

She crumpled up sideways into a foetal position, still screaming, and saw people running: Wendy, Stan, Dipper.

Why were they leaving her? Where were they going? Help!

Fighting the pain, the terror, the coldness, she stretched a hand out and grasped the dirt ground in front of her, pulling herself forward inch by inch. Blue flame still danced on her blistered skin.

They'd come so far. Mabel would not die here.

She reached out another hand to where her family had gone, and all of a sudden noticed the flames had disappeared. The world had returned to colour. The familiar voice of Bill was now the one screaming, screaming inside her head.

For a brief moment nothing happened, and then- darkness.

Mabel came to slowly, groaning and holding her head. "Whoa... Dipper, how long was I out?"

It was then she noticed she was lying in the epicentre of a massive explosion, alone.

"Where am I?" She jumped up and began... floating. "Haha, I can fly! But seriously, where am I?"

Mabel floated upwards, where she could see the beginning of a path which led into town. Which meant the thing that had been in the crater of the explosion was the Mystery Shack.

With a wince she recalled the excruciating few seconds where she saw her family running away. Were they safe? Where did they go? They were probably worried sick.

Mabel followed the path into town and stood on a quiet street, looking around. She could see Stan's car was parked up by Soos' grandmother's house.

"There you are!" Mabel floated up to the door, but when she tried to knock her hand passed through. "That's weird. Hey Dipper, Grunkle Stan, Soos, Mabel's coming through!"

She passed through the door and went into the living room, where Stan and Soos were sitting and watching the TV. "Hey, there you are! Mabel's back, did'ja miss me? Haha, of course you missed me! Where's Dipper?"

Stan and Soos didn't reply, their eyes fixed to the TV. Mabel noticed their moist eyes and lined faces.

"Hey, Grunkle Stan? Soos? Are you okay?" She reached out a hand to touch her Grunkle's shoulder, but it went right through. She watched with wide eyes as he shivered and shifted away.

Flying, walking through walls, being invisible. Mabel wasn't a paranormal expert, but she knew what that meant.

"No," Mabel shook her head vehemently. "No, no, no! I can't be dead! Guys, snap out of it! I'm right here!"

She desperately waved her hands at them, but they kept watching the TV. Those sad eyes grieving for a person right in front of them never met hers, and after a while she began to slow.

"I'm _right here_! I'm... I'm right... I'm..." Mabel retreated to a corner of the room and pulled her sweater over her head. "I'm... dead."

She sat there in the darkness, sobbing. News filtered in from the TV about an explosion, and magical creatures, but she didn't care. She was dead, and nobody could see her. Stan and Soos looked so broken, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Mabel?" Dipper's voice startled her, and she looked up to see her twin brother.

He was staring right at her.


	2. Chapter 2

"You can see me?" Mabel stood up, and Dipper gasped at the way she floated a little off the ground.

"Yes... what happened to you?"

"What happened to who?" Stan sat up with a frown. "Kid, you're talking to a wall."

"You don't see her?"

"Are we playing the pronoun game, dudes?"

"Mabel. Don't you see Mabel, Soos? Right there!"

Stan and Soos looked directly at Mabel, who straightened up and gave a little wave... and shook their heads.

"Look, kid. It's been a real hard day for you, and I think some stuff is getting to your head..."

Mabel shook her head. "No, no, no! Please, I'm not a hallucination, Dipper. Could a hallucination do... this?"

"What are you doing?"

"Thuthing my thung thu my elbow."

"Okay, I believe you!"

"Believe who, dude?"

Dipper turned to Soos and Stan. "Mabel is right over there, in that corner. I'm not crazy."

"Hi!"

"She says hi."

Stan blinked. "Really? Like some sorta ghost?"

"She is floating, so... yeah."

"Well... that's, that's not exactly great – this is awful and I have no idea what to tell your parents now – but _Mabel_!" He jumped out of the chair and somewhat awkwardly hugged the air in front of the wall. "Hot Belgian Waffles, I'm so glad you're here, pumpkin! Am I, am I hugging you?"

Dipper looked over. "Not... really."

After a moment, Grunkle Stan pulled away. "Well, this is getting weird. Soos, get the inflatable beds set up. I need to go call your folks again and explain... this."

After Soos laid out the beds he left, saying he had to go get dinner for everyone.

"Pancakes sound good, right dude?" He blinked. "Dudes. Sorry hambone!"

"No problem, Soos!"

"Mabel says it's okay."

He left Dipper and Mabel alone. At first Mabel was content to mess around with her newfound flying abilities, but then she noticed her brother staring at her. Really, openly staring at her.

"Hey, you're gonna catch a fly in that mouth!" Mabel floated over to poke his nose. "Boop!"

Dipper blinked. "Sorry, I just... you're flying."

"Isn't it cool? Look, I can do a backflip!"

"But aren't you worried about what this means? You can fly, you're invisible, you glow, and that can only mean-"

"I glow?"

"You were earlier, when you were..." He gestured to the corner. "Upset. But that's not the point. If you're like this, then that only means that during the battle you... you died. You actually died!"

Mabel watched in concern as her brother began pacing. After a moment she reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, bro bro! Cheer up, I'm still here. And I can fly! I always wanted to do that."

"But it's like only I can see you... and touch you, somehow." Dipper frowned at the odd observation, but brushed it aside. "And what are we going to do about our parents? They think you're dead – which may be true, but as in gone."

"Well..." Mabel shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what's gonna happen, but we've got each other. So we'll face this like we've faced everything else: together, right?"

After a moment, Dipper cracked a smile. "Yeah. Together."

"Now check out my backflip; you wish you could do something this cool!"


	3. Chapter 3

Mabel and Dipper stayed at Soos' grandmother's house for a few days until their parents arrived, screaming and shouting and completely misunderstanding Stan's comforting line of: "Don't worry, your daughter's safe. She's just a ghost that's invisible to everyone but Dipper, aren't you sweetie?"

The car ride home was very, very awkward.

And so began the long months of school. Not for Mabel of course; she'd followed him around for the first few days, but seeing all the students and the teachers crowding the hallways, all with friends, all with somewhere to be...

She felt so lonely. So useless.

Because she had no friends, and nowhere to be. She was out of the loop, watching from the window, a complete and utter fly on the wall. Mabel's days, once spent being the sparkling centre of attention, now consisted of lounging around, waiting for Dipper to return so she could have somebody to interact with. Her brother tried his best to entertain her, but it just wasn't the same.

One day Mabel decided to head to the park in the centre of town, hoping that might cheer her up. That was nice for a while, until she started to notice something very odd.

Dogs pulling frantically at their leashes, ducks hurriedly swimming to the other end of the pool, squirrels darting up trees... away from her. At first she thought she was just being paranoid, but by the end of the day when a horse reared up in panic at the sight of her and began galloping in the opposite direction, the evidence was pretty irrefutable.

Animals hated her now.

"Are you sure?" Dipper, ever sceptical, had asked when she told him later that evening. "The only person who's been able to see you so far is me. How could animals be able to see you, and why would they be frightened of you?"

"I don't know, Dipper. All I know is whenever I get close to anything it gets scared and runs off. Am I that scary? Is that a normal ghost thing?"

Dipper had shaken his head and promised to do more research, but that wasn't enough for Mabel. Animals would love her again! Like she'd said in the past: 'If it seems like you two aren't the right fit, force it!' Of course that piece of advice was for dating, but it was still pertinent.

Mabel would live by those words and visit the park every day from then on, trying to get some reaction other than utter fear from the animals. Sure, there were some hiccups, like getting the park closed for inexplicably traumatising every pet that crossed through, but she had to be getting close to her big break. Any day now...

Even with those expectations nothing quite prepared her for a windy Saturday morning, when Dipper had decided to accompany her on one of these little adventures. He did that sometimes, mostly to try and figure out why the animals hated her so much rather than how to make them not do that.

"This is so strange," Dipper was saying as he watched the animals run in terror, as usual. "Maybe they have some sort of ghost sense that repels them..."

"Ghost sense? Like in that cartoon?"

"What cartoon- oh, no, Mabel, not like that."

"Na-na na na na, na-na, na na na na..."

Mabel, be serious!" The wind picked up, and his hat was blown right off his head. "My hat! Grab it!"

Mabel crossed her arms as the hat flew right through her.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I forgot that you can't... you know. I'll just go get my hat."

Dipper raced off, leaving Mabel alone. She waited silently, watching the trees sway and the dark clouds race to cover the last few spots of blue in the sky. The wind was blowing pretty hard, she could tell - from visual cues, not from actual sensation. That was yet another downside of being a ghost.

The wind gusted that little bit harder... and suddenly Mabel heard a thin cheep, cheep, cheep sound. She turned around and there it was: two little birds sitting under a tree, eyes closed and beaks wide open.

"Dipper? Dipper! I think some baby birds just fell out of their nest!" She floated over. "They're kind of... gross looking, but still cute! Dipper?"

Her brother wasn't responding, so she looked around and spotted the nest. It seemed the whole thing had been blown right off the tree, leaving these two shivering chicks in trouble. She just wished she could do something to help them...

"Hey, it's okay. Dipper's coming soon, and he can help." Mabel cupped her hands around the chicks, and to her surprise she actually picked them up. Not stopping to question it she placed them in the nest and then raised them up to eye level. "There you go. You're safe now!"

"Hey, Mabel, I found my hat!" Dipper was jogging back to her. "I don't even think they sell hats like this outside the Mystery... Hey, what are you doing?"

"Dipper, look!" She turned to show the bird to her brother. His eyes widened in surprise, but not because of what she was holding.

"How are you doing that?"

"Holding them? I don't know... but that's not the most important thing right now! What are you supposed to do with baby birds?"

"Technically, they're chicks."

"Dipper!"

"Okay, okay! Uh... they don't look hurt, so I think you're supposed to just put the nest back. And no, Mabel, we can't take them home."

"Awww..." Still, she put them on a low, sheltered branch. "How's this?"

"Looks great! But, Mabel... can we go now? It's getting really cold out."

Mabel and Dipper left the park, one casting worried glances over her shoulder whilst the other promised they'd check in on the birds in the morning. Evening passed quickly as she listened to Dipper tear through research on how ghosts could touch things, both of them ending up more confused than when they started.

Then he went to sleep and she waited for the night to pass, as she always did. She couldn't sleep and she didn't want to go out, what else was there to do?

Anyway, the second Dipper cracked open an eye she pushed him to go to the park. At first, he didn't take too well to it.

"Ugh... you're really invested in those birds, aren't you? Just one more minute..."

"Come on, Dipper, I've waited the whole night! And plus they're the first things besides you that haven't run away from me in ages!"

He couldn't argue with that. Dipper rolled out of bed and threw on some clothes, and the two were out the door. Mabel floated alongside her brother, talking and talking and talking about the baby birds whilst Dipper nodded along; he was in a public space, after all.

"There's the tree!" Mabel darted over to the nest, a big grin on her face. "Hey, you two... you..."

"How are they, Mabel?"

"Dipper, one of them's gone!"

"What? Where?"

"I don't know!" Mabel looked around the tree, and then pointed. "There! Oh, Mr Batters, he's dead! No!"

"Mr Batters?"

"I gave him a name."

"He must have fallen out again when we left. That's a shame." He looked at Mabel, who appeared to be sobbing her heart out over the dead bird. "Mabel, are you okay? It's just a bird, you know. Nature and all that."

"No..." Mabel sniffed. "He was my friend... and now, now he's dead..."

"But you only knew him for a-" Dipper shut up quickly when his sister shot him a death stare through her tears. "Ahem. I'm sorry about... Mr Batters, Mabel. But one of them survived, remember?"

"Janice?" Mabel floated back up to the tree. "She's okay. But it must be awful, having a brother and then... not, just like that."

Dipper climbed up to the nest. "Or a sister."

Mabel gave her brother a small smile, and took his hand as the two watched the surviving chick. After a moment, Dipper spoke up.

"I wonder what kind of a bird it is. Probably a sparrow or-"

Before he could finish his thought, there was a screech and a flash of brown and white over Dipper's head. He recoiled instantly. "Argh, I'm being attacked by the parent! Mabel, help!"

"What am I supposed to do?" She said in between laughs.

"I dunno, scare it off!"

"It's too angry! You have unleashed the ultimate power, Dipper: the power of love!"

"Running! Running away!"

"I'm following! Bye, Janice!"


	4. Chapter 4

Dipper and Mabel had met their fair share of ghosts over the years, and one thing was for certain: Mabel wasn't like any they had ever met. She was completely invisible to everyone but her brother. She knew things that she logically shouldn't be privy to, small things like where Dipper's other sock was, exactly how long you should microwave the perfect popcorn, what the millionth digit of pi was. She scared away animals (except Janice. Those two had a great relationship Dipper would never understand)

Mabel brushed it off, but by the last few days of a boring summer spent at home Dipper was convinced there was something more going on.

"I mean, the circumstances of your... death, they were unusual, right?" Mabel was floating upside down, boredly listening to one of her brother's pacing rants. "You got possessed by Bill! Maybe... I don't know. Maybe that makes you into some sort of special ghost..."

"Ooh, maybe I became a demon!" Mabel put her fingers on her head to resemble horns. "Rawr, evil demon!"

Dipper stopped and stared at his sister with the most uncomfortable expression. "Please don't ever do that again."

"Yeah, that wasn't one of my best jokes." Mabel righted herself. "Hey, maybe I'm just a special ghost. I mean, I've always been pretty special, ri-"

A knock on the door interrupted Mabel. She crossed her arms as her father stuck his head in.

"Hey, I heard talking. Is everything alright, Dipper?"

"And Mabel," She muttered. "Mabel."

"Uh... yeah, Dad! Everything's fine, I'm just talking to Mabel."

He sighed deeply. "Okay."

"Because, you know, she still exists." Dipper added. "And the magical world is all over the news, so there's really no reason for you-"

"Hey, hey, Dipper!" Their father stuck his hands up in a pacifying gesture. "Look, I didn't come here to fight about that with you. I just wanted to ask what you want to do for your birthday."

"Our birthday. It's our birthday, Dipper!"

Dipper glanced at Mabel. "I know! Dad, I just don't really want you to organise anything this year, okay? Mabel and I can sort it out."

Their father raised an eyebrow, a grin tugging at his cheeks. "Okay, but this gives your mother and me full license to arrange a surprise!"

"That's... not what I said."

"Oh, come on, I was just joking." The smile dropped. "You know, before you turned into a teenager we used to have a great relationship. What happened to that, Dipper?"

Mabel rolled her eyes. "Easy. You started ignoring me!"

"You started ignoring Mabel!"

Their father looked down. "Alright, I can see this isn't going anywhere. So... goodnight."

He closed the door, leaving Dipper to shoot a concerned glance at his sister. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," She huffed. "Doing great being ignored by everyone, including my own parents."

"I know, that sucks. But, it's not really their fault-"

"Do you think I don't know that, Dipper? Of course it's not their fault, it's just..." She looked away. "It's not fair, being invisible all the time. I still exist!"

Dipper took a step back when his sister's form flared a bright blue, but after a moment she took a deep breath. "Hey, but you remember what we planned for our birthday, right?"

"A picnic and calling Stan in the park?" Dipper nodded. "Looking forward to it."

"You're just 'looking forward to it'? I can't wait! I wish we were allowed to visit, but they have to let us go there sometime, right?"

He shrugged. "Probably."

"And then maybe we could live there! That'd be fantastic!"

"No longer getting called crazy does sound pretty fantastic." Dipper yawned, lying down on his bed. "Sometime... in the future, I guess."

"Hopefully not too far in the future, right?"

"I don't know. I hope not." Dipper turned the light off. "Goodnight, Mabel."

Mabel's smile lasted until her brother turned around, and then it dropped. Going to Gravity Falls, interacting with people, seeing her friends? She wanted it so, so much. Just to talk to somebody else other than her brother and a bird, to be included, do something meaningful for once...

But nothing short of a miracle was going to make their parents send them to the place their daughter died in. And so she was stuck in Piedmont, slowly losing her mind in painful loneliness.

But enough about that. Mabel summoned up her imagination and made stories in her head until sunrise. They were like dreams, but she had to make them up all by herself because – yet another downside - ghosts didn't sleep.

They were restless.

The week leading up to their birthday was arguably better than their last one, at least. Back then they were still treading lightly around their parents, and the ceremony had passed largely without notice. Now Dipper was given some extra money, and often asked what he'd like for his birthday.

His first answer was for them to acknowledge Mabel. His second? A trip to Gravity Falls. Both of these seemed highly unlikely to be fulfilled, but hey, their parents weren't monsters. Maybe they'd listen if it was drilled in enough times.

Meanwhile, that extra money was being put to good use for picnic supplies and for each other's presents. Since Mabel couldn't exactly conceal what she was getting Dipper, the two hadn't bothered with secrecy; Dipper got his sister a complete DVD set of this cartoon show she liked, and in return was given... canned unicorn meat, seven cans of it.

"Uh... Mabel?" Dipper had quietly whispered to her in line. "I know a gift's a gift, but one question... why?"

"Unicorns are evil. Feast on their flesh."

Without another word, Dipper bought the unicorn meat.

* * *

Finally, the day had come to celebrate their birthday. The picnic supplies were ready, the day was bright, and they were all ready to set out... but for one problem.

"Dipper, can you come down here for a minute?" Their mother called. Dipper came over, his sister following close behind.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Your father and I were going... grocery shopping." She started in a strange voice. "So we were just wondering if you could come along?"

Dipper blinked. "Oh, actually I was kind of busy-"

"We'll only be five minutes. Please?"

"Alright." Raising an eyebrow, he followed his parents to the car. Mabel trailed behind the car as it drove, noticing quickly that it was not heading towards the supermarket.

Where were they going?

Mabel watched them pull up to some arcade, and rejoined her equally confused brother as they were ushered towards the door.

"Maybe they're shopping for highscores?" She suggested, and her brother shrugged.

"Now," Their mother said, putting a hand on the door. "Your father and I said we weren't going to plan anything for your birthday but... well, we just couldn't resist."

"Oh, no," Dipper shook his head as the doors opened. "No, no, no-"

"Happy birthday!" A host of staff members in party hats were waiting at the entrance, and started singing the birthday song. In their hands was a cake.

A cake that read, _Happy Birthday Dipper_. Just Dipper. Not Mabel.

It wasn't her party.

"Mabel?" Dipper's concerned voice barely registered in her mind. Because she wasn't included, was never included, would never be included...

And this was the last straw.

"How do you feel, Dipper?" His father was asking. "Big fourteen! I was just thinking something small; play a few games, eat some pizza, have a good time! What do you say?"

Dipper was staring at his sister, who was walking towards the cake with clenched fists and blue flames flickering around her form. "I... I..."

"Come on, what's the word?"

Darkness swirled around her sister's form as she approached the cake. Dipper's cake, not her's. _Not her's_.

"We need to run."

"What?"

Then Mabel grabbed the cake, and all hell broke loose.

The ceiling lights exploded all at once, popping like gunshots, plunging the building into a sudden darkness but for Mabel's burning blue light. The shocked cries turned to screams, pointed fingers, cameras and shouts of 'What the hell is that?'

They could clearly see Mabel, but when she turned around to face her parents Dipper saw it was quite a different Mabel than the one he knew. He caught sight of glowing yellow eyes, white sharpened teeth and a furious, twisted glare.

She then spoke, her voice deep and echoing and utterly terrifying. " _I STILL EXIST_!"

Both Dipper and their parents recoiled. The arcade games rattled and sparked behind her until they broke, sending off a smoke that triggered the sprinklers. And still, Mabel stood there.

" _I still exist_!" She roared over the blaring fire alarm. " _Stop ignoring me_!"

Dipper recovered his senses and started towards her, but before he could say anything he was grabbed by his parents and pulled out of the door. The last thing he saw was her expression change from anger to wide-eyed shock before the doors closed.

"Wait, Mabel!" Dipper broke free of his parent's grip and ran back into the building, but his sister was gone.

Where to? He had a hunch.

* * *

As soon as Mabel saw her family running away, she snapped out of her fury and took a good look around. The entire place was trashed; arcade machines were still smoking and the fire alarm was still going. People were pointing cameras at her, screaming when she looked at them. They could see her, and they were very afraid.

She'd done something awful. Dipper was coming back, but she couldn't face him. Not yet. Not here.

So she took off towards the park, metaphorical heart pounding in her chest. Even Janice seemed to be scared of her when she landed, uttering a shrill chirp and flying away. Mabel didn't care; she curled up next to the trunk and pulled herself into Sweatertown.

 _I still exist_. The phrase was repeating over and over in her mind, over scenes of chaos and destruction. Thanks to her efforts, everyone knew that she existed. Everyone was also now afraid of her.

Was Dipper?

"Mabel?" Her brother's voice caught her attention, and she peeked out of the fabric in her sweater. He was walking up to her, carrying a picnic basket. "There you are. You, uh, gave me a bit of a scare back there."

"I gave everyone a scare."

"Heh, that was... poor word choice. Sorry." He sat next to Mabel. "Well, at least we know now you're not a ghost."

From within her sweater, Mabel frowned. "I'm not?"

"No, I know what you are now. You're, um, you're probably... a demon."

"A demon." The two sat in silence, processing the information. Then: "Dipper, are you scared of me? Because I'm kind of scared of me right now."

The answer was immediate. "No, no, of course not! You're my sister, Mabel; whatever Bill did to you, he didn't change that. He didn't change you. This demon thing, all it does is... explain some things."

Mabel poked her head out of her sweater and leaned on her brother. "Thanks, Dipper. I really appreciate it." She then frowned as he took out his phone. "What are you doing?"

"Just looking up something... wow, they're already reporting on it. Look," He scrolled past various articles on 'Mysterious demon makes appearance at arcade' "I don't even know how they write articles this fast. And, uh, hey, what's that thing you left on the cake?"

Mabel looked at a picture of a circle of symbols neatly carved onto the cake. She didn't remember doing that, but now she saw it she recognised it instantly. "My summoning circle."

"What, really? How do you know that?"

"I just... do."

"What do you mean? Is that like a-"

"Dipper..." She shrugged helplessly. "Please, can we talk about all the magic stuff later? Pretend that whole thing didn't happen for now and have a cool birthday?"

He opened his mouth as if to argue, but then he nodded. "Okay, Mabel. That sounds like a good idea." He picked up a nicely wrapped present and handed it to her. "Happy birthday."

"I wonder what it is..." Mabel pretended to look surprised as Dipper opened it for her. "Oh my gosh, is this a DVD set of my favourite cartoon? So thoughtful!"

"Haha, and... canned unicorn meat. That's, that's great, Mabel. Thanks." He picked up the phone once again. "Ready to dial Stan?"


	5. Chapter 5

Dipper and Mabel had by all means a very nice birthday, sitting in the sunny park together. But in between every laugh, every pause in conversation, they remembered sooner or later, they'd have to go home to their parents. Considering their reaction at the birthday party, neither of them had high hopes for that encounter.

They were in for a pleasant surprise when the sun set and they reluctantly headed home. Dipper knocked on the door and their parents instantly opened it, staring down at him with pale, impassive faces. He was pulled into the living room before he had a chance to explain.

"Uh, Mom, Dad?" Dipper asked when they handed him a plate of cookies. "What's going on?"

"Dipper, Mabel," His father started. "We just wanted to tell you we are so, so sorry we didn't believe you."

Mabel blinked. "You are?" Her brother parroted the phrase.

"Yes, we are. We've been ignoring you for an entire year, Mabel, and since it's both of your birthdays, we decided to get you the one other thing you've been asking for the whole time."

The twins watched as their mother pulled out two tickets. "A trip to Gravity Falls. I just got off the phone with Stan; he's enrolled you in the local highschool. Just a semester to see how it goes, okay?"

Mabel's eyes had been widening steadily as her mother was talking, and by the end she was about ready to burst with excitement. Before she could express it, however, she became aware of a strange feeling in her gut. A pulling sensation, if you will.

"Wow, Mom and Dad! I, don't know what to say!" Dipper was gushing. He turned to Mabel with a massive grin. "Doesn't that sound great?"

Mabel stared at her brother. "Dipper, I need to... I'll be right back."

The next moment, she wasn't in the living room. She was in some dark basement, in a circle surrounded with candles, facing some guy in a black cloak. He was holding a bloody knife; what was he doing with that? Was he going to – oh, god. His hand. He'd cut his hand, ew!

If Mabel hadn't been so confused, she probably would have yelped and flown away. As it was she stood perfectly still, staring at the man in shock. Two other robed men came and bandaged his hand as he started speaking.

"O, Forgotten One, destroyer of birthdays!" He intoned. "We have summoned you here to make a deal!"

"A what now?"

"A deal! One of our own has been eating all the cake every summoning, and it's getting annoying, right guys?"

The others nodded, muttering about all their lovely baking going to waste amid Mabel's realisation of what this was: a demon summoning.

How was she supposed to do this?

"Anyway, it's his birthday tonight and we think you're just the demon for the job! Ruin the cake, ruffle the guests up, but nothing lethal, okay?" He looked her up and down with an arrogant smirk. "Not that you'd be capable of that, by the looks of it. We've got some payment lined up, so is it a deal?"

He stuck out a hand, but Mabel frowned.

"Ruining somebody's birthday? No deal, buster."

"What? Oh, come on, these are good animal sacrifices."

" _Animal sacrifices_?" Oh, no, that was not happening on her watch. She stepped out of the circle – eliciting a gasp from the entire group – and stuck her face right up to the leader. "You are not sacrificing any animals, okay? They have thoughts and feelings and emotions just like you!"

The leader's smile had been wiped right off his face, replaced with a pale, openmouthed stare. Behind him his supporters backed away, silent like mice. "Y-you broke the b-b-barrier."

"Yeah? Well, you shouldn't be-"

"Please forgive us, demon!" The man suddenly got down on his knees. "We didn't mean to insult you, we're so sorry!"

"Whoa, hold your horses!" Mabel backed up, but he didn't seem to hear.

"I don't wanna die, not for this! Jeff's actually a really good member; he knows how to pronounce all the hard Latin words!" He pressed his hands together in a begging gesture. "Don't kill us, please! We'll give you anything!"

Mabel looked around the basement, hoping that taking something might calm him down. Her eyes caught sight of something she liked in the back of the room. "How about that cake?"

* * *

Dipper was in his bedroom, reading a book when his sister suddenly blipped into existence next to him.

"Whoa, Mabel! Where'd you go? I had to pretend you were there the entire time Mom and Dad were talking to you; it was really, really awkward." He paused. "Why do you have cake?"

"I think I got demon summoned, Dipper." Mabel took a bite of cake. "They were super scared for some reason and gave me this to go away. Want some?"

"I'm good, thanks." He raised an eyebrow. "How did you know what to do?"

"I didn't! It was super confusing. Is there a demon manual somewhere I could use?"

"Hmm... maybe back at Gravity Falls. For now, just don't do anything crazy, okay? Lay low."

"Lay low? Dipper, you know I'm invisible, right? I can lay as low as I want!" Mabel flung her arms wide, which made her hit a lamp and drop the cake simultaneously. Her expression of total surprise was only matched by her brother's one of annoyance.

"That's what I was talking about, Ma-"

"I can touch things?" She reached out a hand to the wall, and touched it, felt it! Her fingers traced the smooth surface up and down, up and down, sharpened fingernails leaving thin lines as she went.

"That must be the demon sacrifice. I've read they boost power, so it must make you able to do that." He crossed his arms. "Uh... Mabel? Why are you stroking the wall?"

Mabel paused as an idea struck her. "Oh my gosh, does this mean I can talk to people?"

"Until it wears off, yeah."

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Mabel whirled around to face her brother. "Let's go outside, Dipper! Let's meet people, go to the arcade! Wait, I destroyed that. Nevermind, we'll figure it out on the way – come on!" She crashed through the door, leaving a Mabel-shaped hole in the wood. "Whoops! Hi Mom, hi Dad!"

The yelps of surprise from downstairs told Dipper he needed to get down there, now.


	6. Chapter 6

Wendy was in class, and she was very busy. Not on the lesson - a slideshow on poetry in the 18th century was almost too boring for words – but on texting Tambry. They were having a very important discussion about where to hang out that afternoon when a name caught her attention.

"-Please welcome Manson Pines!"

Dipper? She looked up in surprise and there he was, standing solemnly by the teacher. A few halfhearted claps came from some of her classmates, so Wendy took it upon herself to stand up and give a loud whoop. Dipper saw her and grinned, all traces of sadness falling away.

Her teacher, on the other hand, was less than pleased. "Sit down, Corduroy!"

"Oh, come on, Ms Laff! I was being welcoming."

"I don't think you know the meaning of that word. Anyway, back to Blake..."

Dipper quickly slipped in between the desks to sit next to Wendy, who gave him a fist bump. "Hey, man, I didn't realise you were gonna be in my class. They moved you up a few years, huh?"

"Yeah, it's, uh, it's great to see you! I'm usually put in higher classes." His eyes then darted to the side. "What? It's true! No, I do not have a big head!"

Wendy blinked, and then she grinned in understanding. "Hey, Mabel. Long time no _see_."

"Wendy, you did not just make that joke."

"I just did, man."

He shook his head, unable to stop a smile creeping up his face. "Oh, my god, Wendy. Mabel, stop laughing."

"What is going on back there?" The teacher called from the front. "Corduroy, I hope I don't have to move you again."

"No, Ms Laff."

"I'll move you to the corner, away from everybody else. Don't think I won't!"

"Got it the first time, Ms Laff."

Dipper raised an eyebrow at Wendy; that seemed a little harsh. Wendy shrugged, but the tension in her shoulders and the redness of her cheeks made the gesture anything but nonchalant. They remained quiet for the rest of the lesson, but when the bell rang for lunch, he confronted her.

"Wow, Ms Laff seems a little... no, Mabel, I'm not going to use that word."

"Hah! Whatever Mabel said, she's on the right track!' Wendy put her hands in her pockets. "Laff straight up hates me."

"Why?"

"No idea, man. I mean, I'm on my phone and junk, but so's everyone else. I've had her for two years, and I just can't figure out what her problem is."

"Two years?"

"Yeah! She wasn't even supposed to be teaching my class this year, but then there was a schedule change and... ugh, that class sucks. This school sucks!" Wendy let that sit for a moment before clearing her throat. "Anyway, rant over. Hey, do you guys want to see something cool?"

Dipper blinked. "Is it against the rules?"

"I said it was cool, didn't I?" She took Dipper's hand and dragged him away from the lunch hall. "C'mon, you'll love this."

She led Dipper around the back of the classroom building, over to a tall pine tree. Grinning, Wendy pointed at it. "You see that branch going over the roof?"

"Yep, this is definitely against the rules."

"Come on, man, it's worth the climb! Do it, do it, do it!"

"Really?" Dipper crossed his arms, and looked to the side. "Great, now you're both chanting."

"Aww, yeah, Mabel! Do it, do it!"

Despite his best efforts, a little smile crept onto Dipper's face. He put a hand on the tree and hoisted himself up to the first branch.

"Yeah! That's the spirit!" Wendy wasn't far behind him. "Don't stop till you reach the roof!"

"Got it. Just gotta, heh, keep climbing... Yeah, thanks Mabel. I wish I could fly too."

Wendy snorted. She sat just below Dipper as he shimmied down the branch and onto the roof, then put her hands on the edge and pulled herself up like a swimmer from a pool. She dusted her hands off.

"There, that wasn't so bad! Welcome to my lunch spot, dudes."

Dipper walked over to the edge. "You go up here every day?"

"Me and my gang, yeah. It's a pretty sweet place to pull off some pranks, too." She sat down, and he sat next to her. "Once, we came up here with water balloons and just took aim at everyone we could see! We got away with it, too."

"Hah, that's great!"

"Yeah, it is pretty great. What do you think, Mabel?"

Dipper grinned. "She's happy she came in today."

"Oh man, you were gonna ditch? Nice, Mabel!"

"Well, she never came to our old school." He looked down. "Nobody but me even believed she existed, so it was... really hard."

The air seemed to get a little colder, a little sadder. Wendy hesitated, then reached out to touch his shoulder.

"Hey. You two are literally the most amazing people I know. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, and... I've always got your back; you know that, right? And so does Stan and Soos and pretty much the whole town. You're in Gravity Falls now."

"Thanks, Wendy. We appreciate that." He paused. "Uh, anyway, what's going on with you?"

"Me and my friends were gonna hang out after school. Want in?"

The conversation moved on to happier things, then, and continued until the bell rang.

"Aww, man." Wendy stood up and brushed herself off. "I guess I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah! Seeya, Wendy! Oh, and Mabel says bye too!"

"Peace!" She walked along the top of the tree branch, jumped down, and swung her way to the ground.

Dipper's eyes widened as she disappeared. "Wow, I wish I could do that." He paused, then snorted. "No, Mabel, I'm not going to try it. Let's try getting to class without breaking a leg, alright?"

* * *

A week passed, and Wendy was very happy to spend every moment of it with Dipper and Mabel. They hung out at lunch on the roof and around the town after school, with or without the other five of Wendy's friends.

Dipper also sat next to her in English, though neither of them considered that particularly fun. If it hadn't been blatantly obvious the teacher didn't like her at first, she didn't hesitate to make it clear in the coming days.

"What's that sound? That had better not be your ringtone, Corduroy."

"Wrong answer, Corduroy. See, this is why I don't call on you."

"Corduroy, where's Corduroy?" She looked over his glasses to see Wendy sitting in the back. "There you are. You know, a little, 'I'm here' would make my life so much easier. Not that kids like you care, but I thought I'd toss it out there."

A few classmates sniggered. Wendy frowned. "But Ms Laff-"

" _Be quiet_! You know what, see me after class, Corduroy. We need to have a talk."

Dipper and Mabel watched their friend worriedly as she crossed her arms and looked away.

The bell rang, and the class quickly emptied. The only ones left were the teacher, Wendy, and the twins.

Ms Laff then cleared her throat. "Dipper, mind giving us the room?"

"Um..."

"Go, dude. You don't need to stick around for me."

Reluctantly, Dipper left the classroom and waited outside, frowning in concern.

"I know, Mabel. It sounds pretty serious." A pause. "No, I can't hear anything. Can you? Wait, Mabel, don't go back ins-! Ugh."

"Stop talking to yourself, weirdo!" Some kid yelled in passing, and Dipper rolled his eyes and leant against the wall.

He checked his watch. Hopefully Ms Laff wouldn't keep her for too long; Wendy could barely stand the teacher without her cutting into lunch time. Just as he was thinking that, there came a dull roaring from within the classroom. Was that... shouting?

Suddenly the door was flung open; Dipper yelped and jumped back before it hit him. "-and don't you ever say that about my family again!"

"Corduroy, get back here! I haven't finished talking to you!"

Wendy flipped off the teacher and stormed away, pushing past several surprised students as she did so. Dipper took one look into the classroom, where Ms Laff was calling security, and took off after Wendy.

"Wendy?"

Wendy rounded on him. "Just leave me alone, Dipper!" Her voice trembled, and she turned away, heading down an opposite door.

Dipper slowed to a stop. After a moment, he felt an icy rush of wind at his side.

"Whoa," Dipper looked at his sister; he hadn't seen her like that since the incident with the cake. "You're right, Mabel. We need to do something."

* * *

 _Ring, ring_. Wendy opened the door.

"Oh, hey Dipper." She smiled at the visible, floating girl standing next to him. "Hey, Mabel!"

Dipper held out some paper. "Hey, uh, since you got suspended, I thought we'd bring you your homework-"

"We're here to get revenge on Ms Laff!"

"Mabel! I was getting to that."

Wendy snorted, and opened the door wide. "Let's talk inside."

She brought them over to the living room, a veritable museum of all things red and flannel. She walked across the red flannel carpet and sat down on the red flannel couch, stopping to turn on the red flannel lamp as she did so.

"You guys want anything to drink? I've got some Pitt Cola."

"I'm fine, thanks. Mabel probably would, though."

"It keeps me corporal!"

"It's corporeal, Mabel."

"Your face is corporeal! Haha, zing!"

Trying to suppress a laugh, Wendy headed into the kitchen. "I'm on it, dude."

Dipper looked around the room, taking note of the popcorn bowl and paused movie on the TV. "So, uh, how's your dad taking the fact that you got... you know?"

"Suspended? He's furious - not at me, though. I told him what happened and he marched right down to the school to get it sorted." Wendy came back into the living room and handed Mabel her soda. "Apparently it didn't go too well."

Mabel frowned. "Why?"

"My dad broke a table at a PTA meeting once. They don't really think of him as much more than an angry lumberjack." Wendy looked down. "And, you know, he is kinda an angry lumberjack. And my family does get pretty crazy at times. But it's not like anybody has a perfect family, right? I'm not gonna let some stupid teacher judge us for that!"

Mabel crossed her arms. "Yeah, forget her!"

"I wish I could. I've got this week off from school, but then I'll have to go right back to her stupid classroom and listen to her stupid voice for the rest of the year. We're not even halfway through yet!" Her shoulders slumped. "Maybe I should get myself suspended again."

"No, don't do that!" Dipper sighed. "Wendy, you've been, um, an awesome friend this year – not that you weren't before, I mean, just... well, you've made us feel really welcome, back at Gravity Falls. And you know how you said you'd always have our backs? Well, we've got your back, too. You're not gonna have to put up with her anymore."

"What are you two planning?"

"It was more Mabel's plan. I just helped her... tone it down a bit."

"Oh, yeah." Mabel rubbed her hands together. "I've come up with the perfect plan! All I need is a little deal from you."

"Deal?"

"It's a demon thing. I'm new at this, but basically when I do something big for someone, I kinda need something from them."

Wendy nodded. "Fair enough. What do you want?"

" _Your firstborn child_."

Dead silence.

"I'm joking, I'm joking! How about some more soda? We can go to the store and get, like, five packs! That'll work!" Mabel blushed at their nervous laughter. "Seriously, I was joking, I was totally joking. I won't tell any more demon jokes, promise."

"Alright. If I give you five packs of soda, you'll get Ms Laff out of the classroom and let me keep my firstborn child?"

Mabel grinned. "Deal. Now, here's how we're gonna do it..."

* * *

On Monday morning, Dipper took his seat next to a redheaded woman in a green flannel shirt. He glanced over at her as he unpacked, and whispered, "How're you feeling, ahem, Wendy?"

She felt her face, and straightened her hat. She clenched her fingers, and then stretched them out into a thumbs up.

Dipper shivered. That was just plain weird... but it was a good thing! If this unnerved him, just think how Ms Laff was going to feel!

Speak of the devil: Ms Laff came through the door with a bright smile on her face. "Good morning, everybody! I hope you've all had a good weekend!"

"I haven't," Some kid in the front said. "We lost a match with Upside-Down Town's highschool. It was totally unfair, they had some sort of supernatural freak on their team!"

"What? Really?"

"Yeah, it was all big and hairy, with hooves and snout! It was like they dressed a giant cow in football uniform!"

Ms Laff snickered. "Wow. What did they do with the helmet?"

"They had to like, remove the facemask because its head wouldn't fit. Haha, I'm serious! It looked so dumb... but hey, anything to get the edge on our team, right?"

Now the teacher was really laughing. Dipper exchanged a look with the woman sitting next to him.

"Oh, what is this world coming to? Sorry you lost the game, Harry." She flipped through her papers. "Now, where was I... ah, attendance! Everyone should be here but-"

Ms Laff locked eyes with the woman sitting next to him. "Corduroy? What are you doing here?"

The woman's lips stretched out into a sharklike smile. "Resign," she said.

"Excuse me?"

From the front of the room, Harry cleared his throat. "Ms Laff, who are you-"

"One second!" Ms Laff said, and then turned back to the woman. "What did you say to me?"

"Resign," The woman said.

" _How dare you_ , Corduroy?! You come to my classroom when you're suspended and tell me to resign? I can have you arrested for trespassing! Get out this instant!"

The woman leaned forwards. "Resign," She said, so calmly.

"That's it. I'm calling security!" Ms Laff stomped over to the phone, glaring at the woman sitting next to Dipper as she dialled. "Hello? Yes, I need you to come remove Wendy Corduroy from my class. She's breaking her suspension and disrupting class."

"Ms Laff-"

"Be quiet, Harry! Yes, Wendy is right here. I don't know how you let her slip by you at the front gates, but you need to come and remove her now. Thank you." She slammed the phone down, and grinned at the woman sitting next to Dipper. "You're in a world of trouble, Corduroy."

The woman kept smiling at her, unfazed. "Resign."

"Stop saying that. And wipe that smug look off your face; you won't find it so funny once we hand you over to the police."

The door opened, and two security guards walked in. "Wendy Corduroy?"

"Yes, she's over there." Ms Laff pointed. "Get her out of my classroom."

One of the guards frowned. "Over there? Where?"

"Right there! The redhead in the back!"

"I don't see any redhead." The other guard looked out of the door. "Did she run off, or-"

"No, you idiot! Right in front of you, look!"

"Um... Ms Laff, you're pointing to an empty chair."

Ms Laff blinked. "What? No, I'm not."

Harry spoke up. "That's what I've been trying to say! There's nobody there, Ms Laff!"

"You don't see her?" Ms Laff looked around the room, anger quickly turning to bewilderment at the sight of shaking heads. "But... but... she's right there!"

Laff locked eyes with the woman once again. The woman kept smiling, and said, "Resign."

"Look! She just told me to resign! You didn't hear that?" Laff stomped over and reached her hand out. "She's right- _Jesus Christ, what the hell_!"

Ms Laff's hand had passed right through her shoulder. And the woman sitting in the empty chair, smiling with too many teeth, said, "Resign."

By the time Wendy got back from her suspension, Ms Laff had followed Mabel's advice.


End file.
